Wake Up, Computer!
My computer tech (Emil) makes house-calls, which serves me and my desktop computer very well. I met him at an eWomen Network meeting (yes, men can visit and join). His elevator speech included a reference to his ability to find and eliminate the hidden files that software developers insert within programs to collect data about your usage of the programs, including Microsoft.
My computer had been running very slowly. I only had 512mb of RAM (Resident Access Memory) and always had several programs running in the background (time tracking program, anti-spam and security software, Groove, RoboForm, Carbonite, Outlook and others). A simple Word document took far too long to load, and getting my Internet browser to open provided enough time to run to the grocery store. Well. . . almost. I knew I needed to increase the RAM, but this was the first time I had heard about “hidden files.”
Anti-Virus Protection
So Emil made his first visit within a few days and immediately installed some free programs which replaced my anti-virus program and Microsoft Windows defrag program. My computer is now protected by AVG Free Anti Virus. The program hums along in the background, scanning documents, emails, and links, and the updates to the program are automatic.
Defragmentation
All of us Windows users have a system defrag program installed (Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup). I assumed (you know what that word means) that if the program was from Microsoft and Microsoft is so very concerned about security, that if I utilized this option on a regular basis, my machine would be clean and fast. Well, Emil showed me the way.
First he installed CCleaner, a free program (donations encouraged), which cleans all temp files, history, cookies, etc. The first time you use it, it may take 15 to 30 minutes to clean your hard drive. You need to do this before you defrag.
Here are the instructions for setting up CCleaner:
- Once you’ve installed CCleaner, Under “Cleaner” check all the boxes in Internet Explorer except Auto Complete.
- Under Advanced, check only “Old Prefetch data.”
- Then click Run Cleaner (lower right corner).
Emil wasn’t done. Next he installed O&O Defrag. This program does what the Windows program does but far more thoroughly. The first time you use it, it may take hours. My suggestion is to set it up to run during the night the first time.
Here are the instructions for setting up O&O Defrag:
- Go get the free download of O&O Defrag
- Once it’s installed, open it and specify the drive you want to defrag.
- Then click on the green arrow/triangle in the O&O toolbar.
It will begin analyzing the drive; you should see bunches of red in the colored area. When the analysis is complete, it will automatically begin defragging. This could take several hours the first time, so do it overnight.
Then be ready to speed your way through your computer the next morning!
To maintain your speedy computer, be sure to use cCleaner and O&O Defrag at least once a month, depending on how much you’re using the computer, downloading files, etc.
And let me know how your computer does after you’ve done all of this.
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